Ziggy's Story
by appura-chan
Summary: Ziggy was 'found' by Mel and the crew. Taken back to the desert hideout, Ziggy discoveres a happier life. But just the next day it crashes in on her. Seekers are on the way, and Jamie's still somewhere in the caves. Will everyone come back...themselves?
1. Chapter 1

**I love The Host. I think it's better than Twilight, yeah that's something big. This story is based after The Host by about 2 ½ months. You may see some character names that weren't in the book, but were still there, like Oliver. Just go along with it. Hope you enjoy this!**

Chapter 1 – Meeting

Ziggy's POV

I stumbled along the alley's darkened street, my feet pounding unevenly on the icy floor. I was trying to keep an even pace but that was just impossible. People were chasing me. Were they Seekers? I didn't know. Probably.

There was no hope. It was over. How had they found me? Had I slipped on one of my raids? The souls abandoned the downtown area, that sort of stuff was not appropriate for them. However they'd not turned off the electricity or water to it, so that made my home.

Still running. I was nearly home. If I could just get inside, they would never find me. But then I did something very stupid.

I needed to know who they were. I spun round, trying only to twist my head but the ice made me slip and I landed flat on the cold floor. Why did this have to happen to me? Well, I suppose it happened to everyone else but still…

I noticed I was still conscious. A warm hand touched mine lightly, and I realized whoever's hand it was, was trying to help me up. I took it unwillingly, knowing there would be death either way. I looked up at the person.

I first saw their clothes. They were not Seekers in their uniform black, so what were they? Next I counted. One woman, four men. The men were dressed in some inconspicuous gray T-shirts and pants and the girl was in a deep pink top with black leg-ins. I then remembered their eyes.

I gasped. They were…human. Five surviving humans standing right next to me! My heart leapt with joy. Tears poured down my face and I grinned stupidly.

"Um, hi?" One of the men, the one that offered me the hand, asked uncertainly. "Are you OK?" I recovered myself.

"Yeah! It's just...just...you're HUMAN?"

"That's us!" The girl stepped forward and smiled warmly. "My name is Melanie, what's yours?"

"Ziggy!"

"Nice name! Now... you're in a spot of bother here, aren't you? The Seekers will find you eventually you know..." I sighed.

"Yes, I do. I'm just trying to survive for as long as I can, you know?"

"Alright. But, we were wondering if you wanted to...you know...come live with us in the desert. There is a nice place, if you want to come..."

This shocked me. How had they got here from the desert? I'd lived all my life either in or near Seattle and these people were implying they were on a nice trip up to Seattle from the desert? Okay...well I'd better answer them.

"I'd love to come! Living with humans is my dream...but first of all you need to tell me how you got to Seattle."

"We drove?" Melanie looked confused.

"How? How did the Seekers not spot you?" Melanie laughed at this.

"We have a van and a lorry. Also, we have two souls driving them. We didn't bring them along because they'd never catch you and they might give you a fright." Then again the man spoke.

"And we shouldn't have brought you along either. You're pregnant. Moral support." He grumbled.

"Jared!" Melanie hissed, frustrated, but then recovered herself. "I suppose you should know who we all are. This is Jared, as you probably know," she pointed to him, "Kyle, Aaron, Brandt and Oliver. Ian's still with Wanda. Oh, and Sunny's driving the lorry and Wanda's doing the van."

"How many of you IS there?" I staggered back, shocked.

"There's 39 in our place, we're tops. There's four other human camps, you may decide to go there later, but the most they've got is 20. Now hurry!" Melanie tugged on my sleeve. "We have a few more places to stop off at, hmm...maybe we could do a BNB for one night, you need to get scrubbed up. You're around the same size as me, I'll lend you some fresh clothes..." She was practically talking to herself as we started to negotiate the death trap of a path.

"I still can't get my head round it. There's more than 50 humans still alive in the USA? And you have some...souls...with you?"

"Yes, times have changed from a few years ago when people were on the run. We're now more civilized. Brandt! Do you know what happened at the court meeting today?" Court meeting?

"No, sorry. Only Sunny knows."

"Court meeting?" I asked.

"Yes, there's a court in Seattle where souls go to give in their human children. Or in the case today, not to give in. That's the reason we're so far away."

"Why would they need a court meeting?"

"Well, it seems that some souls love their children too much and do not want to give them in to being a soul. The outcome of the event is only known by Sunny, so we need to get back to her."

We continued in silence for some time until we stopped in front of a completely normal lorry and van parked on the outskirts of Seattle. I met Jodi, Ian and Wanda, but Melanie ushered me into the back of the van before I heard the verdict of the court. I put on the clothes she'd handed me. Oh, they were so soft! They must not have been worn too many times before.

Melanie, Jared and Ian got in the back with me and Wanda was driving. It was really bumpy but I could tell we were driving slowly. Everyone else piled into the lorry. We juddered to a halt after about an hour of driving. Melanie jumped up.

"You don't mind if I sleep in a bed tonight, do you Jared?"

"Well I'm joining you."

"Me too. Well, not you, Wanda." I giggled.

"Ian and Wanda sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G!" He laughed.

"Jared and Melanie sitting in a car, are they naked? Yes they are!" We pretended to shield our eyes away from them both, sniggering quietly. Wanda opened the door at that instant and asked,

"What's the joke?"

"Just a childish game..." Ian muttered.

"OK whatever. Ziggy, come on, you need a bath. Are any of you lot coming?"

"We all are." Melanie answered.

"Cool! Let's go!" Wanda grinned enthusiastically.

"She's always like this." Jared whispered to me as we jumped out.

That night was amazing. Soaking in the nice hot water...shampooing my hair...sleeping in a nice warm bed...it was lovely. Everyone was really nice. Wanda told me about Jamie, a teenage boy who was staying with them, and also Melanie's brother. It was so amazing, Jared, Melanie and Ian joined in the conversation, talking about old Uncle Jeb and life in the caves.

The next morning, Melanie took the little bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and wrapped the bars of soap in toilet paper before putting them into the rucksack too. We ate breakfast and the woman smiled at us and waved.

"I hope to see you again, thank you for coming!"

The next morning, Wanda and Sunny went out and so we were left to sit there and do nothing.

"Do you like reading, Ziggy?"

"'S Okay, I suppose."

"Wanda bought us a few magazines. You know, from when we were still here. 'Human antiques', they were selling them as. Well, not really selling...more giving away..."

"They were cheap?"

"No, everything's for free. Souls are like that."

"Okay..." I answered, dazed.

Later that day, Wanda and Sunny arrived with lots of shopping bags. Wanda was grumbling something about not needing Aaron, Brandt and Oliver with us and Sunny was agreeing. We all peered into the bags to see what they got. Some cutlery, long-lasting food...some shoes of varying sizes...some clothes that were so small they must be for Sunny... we were stumped at the last bag. It was a plastic box and rather large. About 1m upwards and then ½ m back and to the side. Wanda and Sunny laughed at our reaction.

"It's a solar-powered fridge!" Wanda giggled.

"Look inside!" Sunny added.

Inside the fridge were several fruit and vegetables like apples, pears and tomatoes. We ate a few but left the rest for when we get back.

The next six days were spent in a similar pattern, except we did not stop off at a BNB, we slept in the van or lorry.

"Home sweet Home..." Melanie whispered as we turned onto a dirt track leading up into the desert. It would be my home sweet home too, soon. I knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I am really sorry for not updating sooner. And there was a mix-up on the review thingy – totally my fault I'm sorry guys. It was my first try and I mucked it up...won't happen again. Anyway enough with my apologies I hope you enjoy no.2!**

Chapter 2 – Settling In

We were carrying in all the stuff from the raid. Wanda was incapable of carrying much beyond clothes and cushions. I laughed at her attempts to be stronger, but felt sorry for her. This group were so over-protective. Sunny was not much better either, but she carried in food mainly. As we were taking in the haul, I was surprised when Wanda and Sunny walked right in practically through the wall! I tried to follow them but ended up bashing my nose on rock…so it wasn't an automatic door.

"Silly! It's this way!" Melanie walked in through an entrance just 2 feet from where I tried to get in. How had I not seen that?

"It's meant to be inconspicuous." Jared muttered to me as if he were reading my mind. More like reading the expressions on my face.

We entered a tunnel that was pitch black. I couldn't see a thing but followed Melanie's calming footsteps. We stopped not far down and I dumped my bag of rice there. My arms rejoiced the fact they were free again.

"OK Mel, Ziggy. Don't go back out to the truck. Mel, get some rest on a proper mattress. It's bad for the baby being cooped up in the van for weeks. Ziggy, you need a tour from Jeb and a room assigned for you." Jared explained. "Wanda, don't come back either. Can you take Ziggy to Jeb?"

Jared was cut off by a boy of about my age screaming down the halls I had not gone through yet.

"Mellllllllllll!!!!!!!!!! Wandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! Jareddddd!!!!! Everyone, they're backkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!" He calmed down a little at that point. "Mel, please please please can I go on the next raid with you? It's not fair! Oh! Who's this?" My eyes had adjusted and I saw his gaze on me.

"That's Ziggy. Found her in Seattle. Totally human." Melanie explained.

"Hi." I said uncertainly. I hadn't seen a teenage boy in all of about 8 years, at least not a human one.

"OK come on you guys! Jamie, go and help Jared please." Melanie started dragging me off back the way we came through the tunnel. We went round a U-turn and then carried on going with a few more twists and turns until we reached the 'main plaza' kind of area. There were so many humans!

No fact no figure could compare to this. I'd been told, but I could not be prepared. They all stared at me, confused, but with wonder.

"Everyone." Melanie hushed the whispers. "This is Ziggy. She'll be staying here for now, unless she wants to go someplace else. Still, people, we've had another successful raid, we'll tell you about it after dinner!" With that they all started talking again. An old man – who could only be Jeb – hobbled over to us. He was grinning through his beard.

"Well, that's a good raid! Time fer yer tour? Let's go!"

_Sometime later_

The tour was sooooo boring. This is this, that is that...urgh! Their place is so big. I feel bad admitting it, but I'm jealous. Anyway, my home now. It was time to find out who my roommate was. We walked up to two girls. Was I sharing with two?

"Ziggy, this is Sharon and Lily." Melanie introduced. "Lily'll be your roommate. Jamie's going to bring in your mattress once we've got it out of the lorry. It was at the bottom and all..." Her voice travelled off but the last bit did not seem to be the case. I remember Wanda buying a mattress and dragging it back to the lorry, and I'd only been with them a few days. Accordingly their raids lasted weeks? I'd go investigate later.

Lily took me off down a set of passageways towards the bedrooms. Eventually we arrived and she sat me down on her mattress. Her room was relatively bare, with just a chest of drawers and a mattress, on it only a sleeping bag and pillow. I'd get used to it.

"So, how are you Ziggy?"

"I'm good thanks. This whole place is amazing. It's a miracle, a dream come true!" She laughed at my reaction."

"Yes, it was like that for me too! So tell me about your past Ziggy."

"It's very sad."

"All of our stories are. We've all lost everyone but the people in these caves."

"I don't want to tell you."

"Hmm...I'll tell you what. I'll give you a deal. You tell me about when you were little and then I'll tell you a story about when I found love in the caves. It's sad too."

"OK then. Here goes: I was 7 years old. People were acting weird at school. Mum was getting worried. She lay out our dinner, macaroni cheese and some sweet corn and peas. My favourite. We waited till dad got back. The clock ticked...and ticked...and ticked, and he still did not come home. An hour and a half passed and finally he arrived. But he hadn't arrived. He'd been taken. Mum told me and my brother to jump out of the window. It wasn't THAT high...but high enough to hurt someone badly. We heard mum screaming from the other room, and knew we had to go. We didn't want mum to die, but we didn't want to die either. My brother was an adopted teenager and couldn't care less about me. He jumped out of the window and ran. I never saw him again. I jumped and fell. I knew enough at my young age that I must have broken my arm and maybe a few of my fingers. This was concrete I'd landed on. I tasted blood in my mouth and realised my tongue was bleeding. Funnily enough, that was the worst pain! I opened my eyes and saw someone in black walking towards me. I knew this was bad, so I shut my eyes and pretended I was in a game of Sleeping Lions. They came right up to me and sighed. I could feel their breath on my face. Their footsteps melted away and once I was sure I was safe, I opened my eyes. There was no more screaming. I was safe. I went back in through the back door and regretted jumping out the window and causing myself all that pain when I could have just opened the door. I grinned. I always won Sleeping Lions, and when it was a matter of life or death, well I could still win!"

It took a minute for Lily to recover herself.

"That's so sad you know. How did you stay alive?"

"I stole things from people's houses."

"Yes...we all did that at first. How old are you?"

"Why?"

"You said you were 7. How many years have you been on the run?"

"Do I have to tell you?"

"Not if you don't want to."

"It's OK. I turned 15 last month."

"Oh!" That surprised her. I was incredibly tall for my age, nearly as tall as Melanie.

"The story, please?"

"Yes. Well once there was a boy called Wes and he was 18. He lived in the caves with us. As people do, we fell in love...I fell pregnant, but I didn't know that yet. A certain soul was at the wrong place... well just that she was at the wrong place was enough to trigger us off. We captured her, but she shot Wes. She killed him. The baby'll never get to see it's father!" Lily started sobbing and I rubbed her back soothingly. This was more pain than most. Not even their bodies remained alive. Poor Lily. Even poorer Wes.

"Do you mind if I could walk around, get to know this place?" I asked when she calmed down.

"Of course. Dinner's at 8, but come back here before. I'm meant to keep an eye on you..." She half-got up, but I lay a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to come with me. You can relax."

"If you insist..."

I headed off, hoping I could remember my way. This was difficult trekking but soon I was back in the main plaza. I zoomed into the South tunnel before anyone saw me alone. It was pitch black again and I nearly lost my footing a couple of times, but soon I'd made it to the hospital. I peered in. I knew there was something going on in the hospital, it had been muttered too many times for my liking. But I wasn't expecting this. Several...things...with a dial and a red light on were on the desk. They were quite big, too. The doctor, who I had not met but his white coat signified him, Jared, Wanda, Jamie, Melanie, Ian, Sunny, Kyle...the typical bunch. They congregated around a body.

"Amazing."

"Good thinking, Wanda!"

"Soul's aren't perfect. Although they're better than humans, they still need glasses and the like."

"Do you think we'll still be able to access the shop?"

"Certain. See? He's got some lenses on him."

"Good!"

"Shh! He's waking up!"

I tried to get a closer look through the people but with my carelessness I caught my foot on a rock. Everyone turned to face me.

"Ziggy!" They all said but the doctor, who did not know my name. The last thing I heard was him saying,

"Lucky she decided to crack her head HERE for us."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi again thank you for all those fantastic reviews, they help me churn the chapters out faster!**

Chapter 3 – Life & Love

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed, for the 50th time.

"Don't worry!" Melanie replied, for the 50th time. I'd hit my head on the purple floor pretty hard, and Doc was treating me. He'd given me some of the soul's medicines, and although I didn't trust them, they worked a treat. I couldn't feel a thing now he had, and I was glad he'd ignored my protests.

The body was waking up, really slowly. I'd been in the hospital nearly an hour. He'd got to the stage of tossing and turning, but he was still not reacting to our voices.

"Doc, give him the awake…" Jared muttered.

"OK." Doc replied. He gave the man the awake and within a matter of seconds, the man opened his eyes and smiled.

"I'm back!" He gasped. "I'm really here! Hold on, where am I?"

"You are in the desert, near Tuscon." Doc explained.

"Tuscon?"

"Yeah, near Phoenix." Doc tried to pinpoint nearby places.

"Oh. Hold on, you lot are humans? How is that possible? Humans are all but extinct."

"There are a few humans left."

"How many?"

"Maybe a few hundred. We have 38 here, and then there are about 40 others in other cells." My mouth was hanging open. I thought there was only just over 60, but…my mind could not take it in.

"We hear you're an eye specialist." Wanda got to the subject.

"Me? Or Seventh Song? It's very confusing."

"You're from the Singing World!" Wanda smiled. "Well, probably Seventh Song."

"Yes, that's right."

"What was your name?"

"My name? Um, I'm not sure. Yes, I know! It's Tom."

"Tom." Wanda tried it out. "Nice name. Now, Tom, I think Seventh Song made contact lenses. Do you remember?"

"Oh! Oh, yes. I did. No, HE did. This is very hard! It's like I am HIM, in the memories."

"No, it's not like that." Wanda tried to explain. "He is you, not the other way round. Remember."

"Uh…Okay..."

"Well, Tom, you now have a choice. You can go off on your own as a human, or stay with us. Ace will come in a few weeks, to do trades with us. You can join with him, and tour the other cells if you want. It's up to you. Oh, Ziggy, those are your options too."

"OK." I mumbled. "I've chosen."

"What?"

"If…if it's OK…I'd like to stay here please." I hated being the centre of the spotlight. It seemed Wanda did too, but got over it. It was her life. But it seemed if she had a choice, she would rather fade into the background, only being around when needed. I would do that, too. And I will.

"You don't need to decide right away, Tom. Give it a few days, or weeks. However long you need." Wanda smiled, but then it faded as Melanie walked toward me.

"Ziggy. We need to know what you were doing here, without Lily! I mean, what possessed you to come?" she was pretty scary when she was angry…

"I'm sorry Melanie. It's just, I wanted to see what was going on…"

"Oh, you saw alright! I'm going to have a word with Lily. You know how disturbing this can be?"

"Be nice with the girl." Wanda exclaimed.

"No, it's my fault." Always admit in the face of danger. "Lily was upset, after she told me about Wes, and she was in no fit state to take me anywhere."

"Whatever." Melanie sighed. "And please, call me Mel. It's easier."

Mel. That's nice. It suits her. I bobbed my head mutely.

"Jamie! Go and bring the mattress to Ziggy's room."

"OK"

"Ziggy, you go too."

"Uhuh."

We carried the mattress down the hallway in silence. There was nothing to say. He shook the purple dust out of his black hair once, then carried on walking.

We eventually arrived at my room. Jamie placed the mattress down and sat down on Lily's. She was not in the room, and I sat down on my own mattress.

"Hi!" he said brightly. He was grinning too.

"Um…hi?"

"How old are you?" What is it with this question?

"Do I have to answer you?"

"Yes!"

"Gee, you're a lot worse than Lily!"

"I know."

I sighed.

"So tell me then!" He urged.

"Fine! I'm –chough-15-cough-!"

"I'm sorry!" He was sniggering quietly. "15?"

"Yes…"

"Cool! Did you know, you are the first teenager non-soul I've seen ever?"

"What about Wanda?"

"OK. She was 17 for _2 weeks_. Come on."

"She doesn't look it."

"You don't look 15."

"I'm telling the truth."

"And she's not?"

"No."

"What makes you think so?"

"Look at her! Does she look 18?"

"No."

"Exactly! She looks _my age_."

"No." He disagreed. "She looks _our age_." We started laughing. Jamie was so easy to be with. "But…I have some bad news."

"What?"

"Lily's told Sharon how old you are and that means you have to go to school."

"Can I re-think my decision to stay here?" School was the ultimate bad guy, my worst fear.

"Oh, don't! Please, don't!"

"Look, Jamie. I haven't been to school since I was 7. What are people gonna think of me when I can't even do division? I can't go to school!"

"Yes you can! Sharon's very flexible! And she teaches little kids too."

"So what am I meant to do? Go and sit on a table that goes up to my ankles and draw little fairies like a three year old?" I was desperate. Please agree with me, please agree with me…

"Oh, Ziggy! Please! You could make our lessons so much more fun!"

"No. I can't do it. And even if I can, I won't."

"You're very stubborn." He frowned.

"And you're very selfish!" I flung back at him. He sighed.

"Look, do you ever want to be able to divide things, to learn about the souls, to be able to write joined-up?"

"Well…"

"Exactly. If you ever want to get somewhere, you have to actually start."

"Fine! I'll go to school!" He smiled smugly and folded his arms in success.

"Good. Lessons start after lunch."

"What?" I growled. "But I only got here this morning!"

"Yeah, hell you've done a lot in ½ a day!"

I snorted. He was right. I'd joined a bunch of savage humans in their quest to bring up the rights to humanity, cracked my head open (then had it fixed), witnessed an ex-soul waking up and getting a room assigned to me, along with making friends with another human boy and plenty of human adults! Oh, too much to take in…something told me that as long as I stayed in the caves, I was sure to have a lot of fun!

It just makes you think, even when earth has been invaded by a lethal species of body-controlling worms, the human race still fights, and life and love go on.


	4. Chapter 4

**If you love Twilight please go over and read my other fanfiction too, I'm not getting as many reviews for that as I am for this, which is bad bad bad. But still, thank you for all you cool readers out there, you really improve my confidence in this story. This is the part where the action really starts. I was originally going to put this into the next chapter, but 1 cliffy never hurt anyone…**

***I think this is his name, the older boy, but I don't have the book under my nose at this second so I can't be sure of the spelling.**

**OK then here comes chapter 4! **

Chapter 4 – I Expected Worse

I was dreading this afternoon. Lunch was zooming past too fast, the eggs and bacon quickly dissolving in front of me. Jamie, Mel, Ian, Wanda, Jared, Lily, Sharon and Doc all came to sit with me. I was amazed that I was so popular.

"Are you looking forward to school this afternoon, Ziggy?" Sharon asked me.

"Yeah! I used to love school!" I grinned, lying. I heard Jamie snigger.

"That's good…so you are probably at a lower level than Jamie, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's OK, we can sort something out. What do you enjoy?"

"English, and History. I know Wanda teaches History, though."

"That's right. But Wanda, did you bring back the English books?"

"Yes." Wanda replied. "You see Ziggy, Sharon and me aren't really teachers, but you can still buy curricular learning books, and we've got a few of those. Also if you like reading, we have a bookcase full of all sorts."

"Cool!" It seemed like Wanda and Sharon were advertising all the good things about schooling. "Jamie, what lessons do we have today?"

"Err, History, then Science."

"Science?"

"Seriously, we have to learn out of Text Books, it's sooo boring. But most lessons are anyway."

"Actually, today you won't be learning out of Text Books!" Sharon smiled with obvious delight.

"What?" Jamie's face was of pure shock.

"Wanda and Sunny bought some test tubes and science equipment, chemicals and the like, so we can have some fun today, with making big bangs and dissolving salt and…well you'll have to see!"

"This must be the first FUN science lesson I am ever going to have." Jamie gasped.

"Cool!" I couldn't think of much else to say.

Lunch was finishing and Sharon said I had 20 minutes till lessons started. Lily helped me find the toilet for a loo break, and then she took me to lessons.

Jamie was already sitting on a stool around a table, next to a boy who was around 4 years old. Jamie indicated for me to sit on a stool next to him. Sharon then walked in and smiled.

"Good, we're all here. Isiah*** **, come with me, you two, Wanda will be with you soon."

Wanda came in a couple of minutes later, much to my relief.

"Sorry to keep you two waiting. Now, Ziggy, I'm going to give you an intro on all the planets that Souls have taken over, and a little bit about them. We'll start with 1 of my favorites, the Bears, on the Ice Planet. I was once a bear, maybe tomorrow I'll tell you a story about my time there, where I became known as Rides the Beast, for a while. But first, you've got to know about their bodies." It was really interesting. It was cool that in the schoolroom there was a whiteboard , so she could show us diagrams of the bears. Then she showed me the Dolphins, the creatures on the strange Fire Planet, and many more.

"OK, how's Ziggy going to remember all that?" Jamie asked.

"She's not, silly! It took me a good thousand years to remember it all!" Wanda was 1000 years old?

"Wow…" I murmured.

Wanda then swapped over with Sharon and we started Science. It was full of bangs and explosions, and loads of cool stuff with magnets. Jamie seemed to know what he was doing more than I did, but I supposed he'd already seen diagrams of these experiments in the books.

"Did you enjoy your first day, then?" Lily asked me as we made our way back from supper.

"It was amazing. I thought it was going to be really hard, but honestly, it was so fun!"

"Good good. Tomorrow we'll be planting seeds, tough work I'll say, it hurts your back. But how about you get a bath? Come on, we need to go back to the room and get you a towel, and we can ask Mel for some clothes for you, while yours dry."

"I feel bad, taking her clothes like this."

"Hey, don't worry. Everyone on the raid gets new clothes, to help them 'fit in', but they can't wear it too many times, the van doesn't have a washing machine. So we get whatever clothes come out the other end!"

"OK then…"

We got back to our room and Lily showed me what was in the chest of drawers.

"These two are mine, and these two are yours. Everyone gets a sort of free…starter pack. Towel, flannel, toothbrush, toothpaste, two trousers and tops to their size, from whoever on the raid fits them best, one pair of trainers, and a few other stuff. Take a look. What size are your feet?"

"7"

"OK, Mel again would probably fit yours best. She's a size 7 too, you two have such big feet! You got your towel? Mel should be in her room."

Mel was in her room with you guessed it, Jared, Wanda, Ian, Jamie, Sunny and Kyle.

"Hi you guys!" Jamie spotted us first.

"Hi!" We chorused.

"Oh, you here to get your clothes and shoes?" Mel asked.

"Yep." I replied.

"Good. I have them right…here!"

Mel pulled out a carrier bag from her chest of drawers.

"Thank you!" I found some lovely clothes in, they were totally stylish. I'd never been open to much style when Earth had not been invaded, I just picked clothes I 'liked'. I was far too young for anything else.

"Time to go!" Lily smiled, sharing a glance with Mel. What was going on? I was not stupid enough to think they weren't planning something to do with me behind my back.

I undressed once I was in the pitch black and slipped into the dark waters. It was so warm and comforting, compared to before when I was on the run, only being able to flannel myself for fear that someone would notice lots of water pumping to one abandoned building. I'd been given a bar of soap, and it felt so good against my skin.

After I'd successfully washed myself and my clothes, I got out and dressed into the jeans and T-shirt that I'd been given. I exited and followed Lily out.

"Aren't you going to have a bath?" I asked her.

"Nah. I'll have one after seeding."

"OK then…"

I got into the sleeping bag I'd been provided with, amazed at how warm and comfy it was.

"This is the most relaxed I've been in years!"

"That's good. There's no danger any more of us being found. It's totally secure here. You know how hard it is to get in!"

"How did you know about me banging my nose on the wall?" She sniggered.

"Did you? It's just everyone finds it hard to get in!"

At this point in time I felt totally humiliated.

"Oh, don't worry. It's like it for everyone." She tried to make me feel a bit better.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. Get some rest. Lots to do tomorrow."

"OK. Night."

"Night."

Light streamed in through the window, I knew it was morning. Today we were doing seeding, I remembered that. I rolled over onto my side to say good morning to Lily, but she was not there. However, sitting on her mattress, was…Jamie.

"Morning!" He said brightly.

"Hi. Morning." Aah, definitely groggy today.

"Enjoyed your first day?"

"Amazingly, yeah!"

"Uhuh. That's good. Lily decided to have her bath this morning instead of later, because you have to do baking instead of seeding, so she asked me to check on you, in case you woke up and she wasn't back yet."

"Fair enough. So what are you doing today?"

"Cleaning the mirrors. You know, that make it so light. Then school. We've got Math and English today! Horrah!" He fake-cheered.

"Alright. Do you know how Tom is?" I felt sympathetic towards Tom, he was new like me.

"Yeah, Brandt is looking after him. He's going on the next raid instead of Oliver because he needs to go back to his shop, and take some contact lenses. He had his cell on him so he called his boss to ask him for a leave, but then he'll go back. He'll be like our rebel-spy, always wearing contacts and informing us if anything major comes up, also supplying us with contacts so we can go out and raid without raising any suspicions!"

"Wow. That's one way of sorting things out."

"Yep!"

"Hey, when's Lily coming back?"

"Dunno. She's being a while."

"Hmm."

"Well, we'd better go catch breakfast. Lily's being _forever_…"

"Tell me about it!"

We suddenly started hearing shouts coming down from the main hall. Mel and Jared ran down it, troubled looks on their faces.

"You guys! We have to go. The Seekers watched us coming in from our raid. They're on their way now! Pack your stuff into these rucksacks! Mel handed us each a rucksack and we headed off to our rooms to get our stuff ready. What on earth? I'd been here less than a day, I tell you! Surely I should be allowed SOME time of peace in my life, without the fear of fading away!

I'd packed clothes and necessities and zoomed back into the corridor, where Mel and Jared were waiting.

"Come on!" Jared muttered and Jamie appeared from his room.

We raced off down the corridor and me and Jamie shared a glance. Confusion, fear and pain all mixed together. Here goes nothing…we plunged into the bright white light, would this be our doom? Was it too late?


	5. Chapter 5

**So yeah. Basically the name gives it away. Thanks for all the reviews. I know some people write the first half of the story or something, then post it chapter by chapter, only changing the ANs accordingly, but I am writing a chapter, posting in, writing another, posting it. So literally the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to actually WRITE it, let alone post it. Ideas are welcome peeps!**

Chapter 5 – Left Behind

The main hall was buzzing with people running back and forth. Jeb seemed the most worried, he was frozen in shock, like he had been for the past 15 minutes. We were sitting on the ground with the rest of the people that were ready to leave.

"We'll take the van, the jeep and the lorry. That should fit just about everyone and the supplies to last us 1 month. This is going to be tough." Jared explained to Jeb. It didn't look like Jeb was listening, but we knew he was, he was taking everything in.

"Should I go and pack for you, Jeb?" Jamie asked.

"Go on then." Jared replied for him. Wanda and Ian ran in, much to Mel's appreciation. Then Lily. She smiled when she saw me and I smiled back. She sat down beside me and we hugged each other fiercely. Mel and Wanda were hugging too. I was sure I saw a single glisten of a tear on Wanda's cheek, but it was gone a second later.

Jeb eventually recovered and he did a head count, as Kyle ran in.

"Yep, that's everyone. Let's go!"

"Wow! Guys!" Kyle yelled. "They're quicker than expected! We've got 1 hour max till they see the car drop off point! We'll never make it in time!"

"Oh yes we will." Ian countered. "Just watch us." He got up and pulled Wanda up, then stormed out, and everyone else following him. My eyes scanned the room quickly. Where was Jamie? Jeb may have got the head count right, but there were two new people. He may have forgotten about Tom, or me. Jamie may not have been accounted for. I ran back into the passage, and I faintly heard Lily call me.

"Ziggy! That's the wrong way!" But she did not follow.

"Jamie! Jamie!" I called. He poked his head out from one of the rooms.

"Yeah?"

"Everyone's leaving! We've got to hurry!"

"Leaving? Already?"

"The Seekers will see the place where we keep the cars in under an hour. We've got to run!"

"OK…" The main hall was eerily silent. Not a voice to be heard, not an echo but our own. "Where is everyone?"

"No idea. But something tells me they're outside."

"What?"

"Uhuh. Let's go." I ran off toward the exit.

"Ziggy! You're going the wrong way!" Jamie's voice reminded me of 2 minutes ago, when Lily said, 'Ziggy! That's the wrong way!' but there was no time for flashbacks now. I swivelled round and followed Jamie down a bunch of dark tunnels. Still no-one.

"Lily saw me run after you! She WILL come back!"

"Yeah right. Half the people here would rather save themselves than their lovers." I gave him a look. "OK, maybe ¼. But still…think about Lacey, Sharon…well maybe not so much any more but…"

"Who's Lacey?"

"Tiny, black haired girl. A pest, I think."

"Oh." We turned the next passage and were so glad to hear footsteps. How many sets? A few. Not everyone, though. And they were getting closer.

"Are we too late?" Jamie asked me, practically whimpering.

"I don't know. Quick, get against the wall!" Jamie followed my example, our bodies tightly pressed against the purple walls. The people got closer and closer until we could see the people's faces…

"Mel! Wanda! Jared! Ian!" Jamie laughed, so happy to see his family again. But the others were so shocked, they all jumped back, and Ian banged his head against the rock. I was the only 1 who saw, and I stifled a giggle.

"Oh, Jamie! Ziggy! We're so glad you're safe!" Wanda cried.

"We need to move." Jared added. "Lily told us Jeb'd counted wrong, he'd missed Jamie, and then you ran off to get him. To think, Jamie could still be stuck here and no-one would know until it was too late!"

"Don't say that!" Mel scolded him.

"Whatever. What needs to be said needs to be said. We told Kyle to halt, we needed to go back, but he said he couldn't. There wouldn't be time. We're on our own now." I gasped. "Yes, Ziggy. They're more than ½ an hour ahead of us now. There's no hope of anyone catching up, not even Mel or me."

"So what's the plan?" I squeaked. How had my new life turned on me so quick?

"We're going to hide in the game room. It worked for Wanda. We'll get supplies, leftovers, you know. Just for a few days, until the Seekers have gone. We can make sure that the place shows no sign of life. The emergency evacuation isn't the best if you're trying to keep your house hidden, too."

"How long do we have till the Seekers arrive here?" Jamie asked.

"About 6 hours, we think. Maybe more if they stop for lunch."

"OK, let's go!" Ian pushed us along.

"Can I ask one question?" I asked as we trotted along.

"Sure. Fire away." Mel nodded.

"What were you talking about, a court case, the night you found me?"

"Well, I suppose it'll do you no harm in knowing. Seattle is a main point for where souls bring their human children to become hosts. Normally, it's simple. They just come and deliver their children, then when the process is complete, they bring them back home. But today, they were going into court. This is one of the first times the court in Seattle has been used since the souls invaded. So we then needed to figure out what the verdict was."

"Why?"

"Simple curiosity."

"So what was the verdict?"

"The child was made into a host, of course. The parents were upset, and so they brought some comforters in." Melanie finished, and then Jamie spoke.

"Hold on, why are we in this situation? The others would never leave us!" Mel sighed.

"I thought it that way, too. But it was every man for themselves and well, if we wanted to go, then it was our choice."

"But we're human! Like them!"

"I'm not!" Wanda argued.

"Look, Jamie, we're all upset by this." Ian tried to stop the mild squabbling. "But we're in this situation. Live with it."

"That's rather harsh." Wanda mumbled.

We collected up lights, rubbish, and anything else we could find that would signify life here. Besides, for all the souls knew, we could be just adventurous souls, out exploring some caves. But why were we carrying big boxes and bags? Nope, we were human alright.

"It's really dark in here…" I frowned, although no-one saw it, as we entered the game room.

"Relax. We'll go over right to the edge, then we can put out some lights." Wanda explained.

"Who needs a loo break?" Mel asked. Only me and her, the rest had gone in the morning, before this madness had been spotted. We walked out and I followed her footsteps, for it was still too dark to see anything. Finally, we got into the dim light and we trotted along at a quicker pace.

"So what do you think of this place so far?" Mel questioned me.

"You really want me to answer that?" I raised my eyebrows.

"OK, good point. But I mean before...before everyone ran away."

"It's amazing. Everyone's nice, and it's so cool that when I die, I will know that there are other humans out there!"

"Might not be." Mel muttered, so quiet I was not even sure I heard it.

"Where will the others go? I mean, Lily and Sharon and the lot?"

"They'll probably meet up with Ace...or find a new home. They don't trust coming back here."

"Tell me about Ace." I tried to lighten the mood.

"Ace...he's a nice man. He trades within the other cells, along with a few others. He's a very strange man, sometimes. Like how he calls our cell and his cell 'colonies' and the others just cells. The other cells are less...advanced. They only have the ability to raid, where as we have the ability to shop. Now with Tom, it'll be even easier. Everyone will be able to go into town and just buy whatever they want, load it up and go home! Life will be much easier than just Wanda and Sunny shopping!" Mel was getting hysterical, her voice rising rapidly.

"How does Ace...trade? You keep changing the subject!"

"Sorry. It's just the situation...well Ace and about 6 of his friends will go 'round, to the cells about once a month, and he'll trade clothes, food and stuff with them. And us, but normally we can get our own stuff."

"What do the cells have to trade?"

"Not much. Really it's giving away. For us, it's trading."

"Oh." We reached the toilet and I let Mel go first. We walked back in silence, and I tried to break it, but Mel seemed deep in thought. "How's the baby doing?"

"Good."

"You know, I always wanted to see Lily's baby. It's a real shame."

"Yeah. I bet it would have been really sweet."

"Uhuh. I'll tell you what, you should wear those contacts, and go in and get it checked. See if it's a boy or a girl."

"That'd be cool."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Whether the baby's gonna be a boy or a girl."

"Other than what I'm saying?"

"Oh!" Finally, she seemed to have snapped out of her dream-state. "Err, Jamie...and you."

"What?"

"Well, Jamie seems awfully fond of you...and the way you ran back after him...I'm sure most people wouldn't have done that."

"Yeah right. Besides, it was me running back that's got us into this impossible situation!" But what Mel said really got me thinking. We were friends, and we were the same age...it worked out perfectly.

"You've talked to the others about this haven't you?"

"Maybe..." Mel said slowly.

"Well, I don't know what to say. It's rather rude, you talking to others about my private life!"

"He's my brother. You had a brother once, didn't you? Didn't you love him?"

"Yes, I did. But he was an OLDER brother. I had no interest in his private life, girlfriends or whatever."

"Well Jamie's my younger brother and I am interested in his private life, and I just wanted to say-" She suddenly stopped, as if she was about to say something she didn't want to. But I was going to press her.

"You were going to say..." Her words came out in a rush.

"I was going to say, you seem like a nice person, Ziggy. I'm giving you the A-OK."

We got back into the game room at that instant, and I fumbled around for Mel's shoulder. She grasped my hand tightly as we negotiated the darkness. Mel'd given me a lot to think about, Jamie wise. Yes, He probably liked me. The way he was always in my room, watching me sleep, or chatting to me.

The thing was, did I _like_ like him?


	6. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry I have not updated sooner. It's just I've written this chapter about 3 times, and I forget to save it and someone logs me off or turns off the computer once I've nearly finished the chapter. But I've saved this one, so I'm not losing it! Also, school has started. Noooo... But it doesn't matter too much, as long as I'm still updating once in a while, right? OK now for the chapter.**

Chapter 6 – Only a Single Flame

A lot happened in the next 8 hours. It started with us putting out lights, making a small circle of light where we would hide out, till the Seekers were gone. Everyone but Wanda and I went around collecting things up, and bringing them back to us once their hands were full. A small pile of goods were stacking up by the stream, over the other side of the game room.

"This is really scary. I had the first normal day in years, and then once I was happy, boom! If there is a God out there, he must not be caring very much about us right now." I sighed.

"We'll be fine. You just see. I've been in difficult situations before. I always got through. We will today too." She smiled weakly.

"You seem like you're trying to cheer yourself up, as well."

"I am."

"Exactly!"

"Whatever. We WILL do it."

"Tell me about your other hard situations."

"Well, there was one when I was in Mel, and Jamie was ill. He probably would have died. There were no human medicines left. We had to get the soul's medicine. I cut myself, and went inside, where I was treated. I asked for some water and when the nurse was out of the room, BAM! I shot like lightning, grabbing all the stuff I could see. Two footsteps walked down the hallway...had I been found? Were they seekers? No! IT was just her and the receptionist."

"Wow, now that was scary!"

"Tell me about it." Everyone entered the room at that moment; I could see them because Jamie was carrying a light.

"That's the last of the stuff, people!" Jared called. "Can you get those lights together, we're gonna need to put them in the stream!"

They approached us, as we got the lights together. Ian and Jared took the lights from us up to the stream. Ian said there was a little alcove that doesn't get wet, but it's completely invisible. Still, they wrapped them up in a sack. It still let out a faint glow and I followed it with my eyes till it disappeared into the stream. Their work was done, and all we could do was sit and wait.

We all held hands, cuddled and we girls let out the occasional whimper.

Half an hour later, we started to hear shouts, from far off. They came a bit closer, and then drifted away again. It must have been no more than an hour later, and the voices came up real close. They didn't stop coming. Sooner or later, they fell silent and we could just hear the pounding of their feet. One, two, three, four. Yes, four people. They entered and walked around the side for a bit. I could just make out their voices over the stream.

"This place is empty."

"Tell me about it."

"Can't we go back? It's really freaky." Three different men groaned.

"No! That's called slacking! We need to check every corner of this place!" A high-pitched woman's voice, this time.

"Aww, but we can't SEE every corner! I bet you there's no-one here." The second man again.

"Chill, man!" The first one laughed.

"Please, your phrases are really starting to irritate me!" The woman sighed. She was probably about 28.

"Sorry. It's my host. He always used to say stuff like that. It's infectious. But if you say so, game on!"

"I see..." She groaned.

"There's nothing here." Shivered the second man.

"I bet as soon as they saw us they legged it." The third man chuckled.

"No, I never think there was anybody!" The second man growled.

"Calm it, boys. If you're so scared, let's go back. But just for the record, you wanted to, not me."

"There will be no record. People will not find out." The first man said sternly. They left, and we sat in the dark for another couple of hours. Our quiet breathing was all we heard, we were still alert, waiting for signs of people coming back. But there was none.

"I think they're gone." Ian got up and stretched his back, just as a flashlight shone directly into our faces.

"No!" Mel screamed, she was the first to react.

"Oh, my, I think they're still here." It was the voice of the woman from earlier. I couldn't see her, I was so blinded by the light.

"You came back." Jared murmured.

"You bet I did. You and your band of silly rebels, found!"

"All Jeb's work..." Wanda sighed, defeated.

"But wait." The woman paused, uncertainly.

"What?" Ian growled. Wanda sighed, annoyed by his defence towards her.

"I didn't come back to get you guys found out."

"What!" Jared and Ian exclaimed in unison.

"You heard me. I was like...second in command of the mission. I had access to so many files, that no-one knew about. And a lot of people who could...give me information."

"Who?" Wanda shivered delicately, I could tell because we were holding hands.

"A few Comforters, a few Seekers, a few Healers. That's all."

"What did you find out?" Mel asked boldly.

"I researched about the disappearances. Wanderer and Helena."

"Helena?" Mel asked again.

"A seeker." Gasps from all of us but me. Who was this seeker, called Helena?

"Yes. You knew her?"

"I did." Ian helped Wanda up and held her close, but Wanda did not cease. "She was my Seeker, in charge of finding the people that Mel knew."

"From the pictures, it looks like she is the soul, but you are. How?"

"We don't know if we can trust you...yet. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you come here?"

"I...can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell us?"

"You might tell some other souls!"

"We won't!" Wanda gasped.

"If you're sure. You see...I hear...screaming. Me...screaming. You know what it means."

"Yes. I had a resistant host once, too."

"I'm known as Wanda here."

"Well, Helena had a resistant host too. She went missing here. What happened to her? Where is she?"

"She's...not really on...Earth anymore."

"How?"

"We extracted her. Shipped her off."

"But Wanderer was a teacher, nothing more. How did you know how? Are there others?"

"No, no. I mean, there were, but...they're gone now. They ran from you. We've no way of contacting them...but anyway. You didn't research very far into Wanderer's previous lives, did you?"

"A little too less, may I presume?"

"Yes."

"Well. I understand Wanderer was famous for how many lives she'd had."

"Correct. But I had an event when I was a bear, when we...knew how to extract souls. Wasn't so different for a human."

"Interesting. So you think you could...extract me?"

"Yes, if that's what you would like. But first, what's your name?"

"Single Flame."

"What world?"

"The Fire World. I got named after food. _Please_!"

"Something's indicating you didn't like it there."

"You got that one right." My stomach gurgled. I blushed, but I don't think anyone saw it.

"Let's finish this, then get something to eat." Jared announced.

"Good idea." Mel sighed. Single Flame walked toward us nervously and turned her flashlight toward the door.

"Wait." Ian muttered, putting his hand on her shoulder. She flinched away.

"Hey!"

"Sorry. We've got some lights and stuff; we should get some of the things set back up."

"Good idea..."

Later that night, after I'd eaten, showered and Single Flame knew all our names, we all split up to go back to bed. The couples went their separate ways and me, Jamie and Single Flame kipped in Jamie's room, the biggest, fit for 3. I was dog tired and fell asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow.


	7. Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait. It's just, I thought I uploaded the document about a month ago and it never happened and I was a bit stumped.

Chapter 7 – Admitting, then totally regretting it

I couldn't believe Mel and Wanda had let Single Flame sleep in the same room as us. Seriously, what was she thinking? Hold on, why was I awake? I'd been asleep a second ago.

"Ziggy! Wake up!" Jamie hissed urgently, shaking me. I rolled over to face him. He was kneeling, I could see even through the dim light.

"Huh?"

"She's gone!"

"Who?"

"Single Flame!"

"Crap." I shot up, and a headache made me dizzy. I staggered for a second, then smiled weakly. "Got up too fast…"

"Uh… OK… well she left only a couple of minutes ago. Yu know, you take forever to wake up."

"Sorry."

"Alright, but let's tell Ian."

"Why not Jared? Isn't he meant to be faster?"

"Because that'll wake up Mel, and she'll throw a fit. Wanda understands." With that we tiptoed into Ian and Wanda's room and Jamie lightly shook Ian, who was stretched out across the whole bed, and Wanda was cuddled, a tiny ball wrapped in golden hair, between his arm and leg.

"Ian!" Jamie whispered, shaking him a bit harder. Jamie turned to me and grinned. "He's worse than you! Ian, wake up, Single Flame's not in be-ed." Ian jumped up, knocking Jamie over and Wanda stirred, opening her eyes.

"What?" He gasped.

"I woke up, and Single Flame wasn't in her bed. I think her leaving woke me up."

"Well come on kid, get moving! Ziggy, go and tell Jared, we'll need all the help we can get!"

"Eh…"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. Chances are we'll wake up Mel, and I don't think that's the wisest idea…" Jamie covered for me.

"Good point. Let's go, come on Wanda!"

"Coming!"

We shot off down a maze of corridors and found ourselves splitting up down the odd route, but we stayed together as a whole.

"She's gotta be here somewhere!" Jamie panted.

"Yeah. I never found my way…out…before!" Wanda was struggling to keep up with us. Poor girl.

Eventually we did find her. She'd managed to get to the kitchen, which seemed to be where she'd wanted to go. Her eyes opened wide and she spluttered out some bread that she was eating when she saw us come in.

"I – I can ex – explain!"

"Sure you can. Jamie, you wouldn't mind cleaning this mess up?"

"I'll do it." Wanda offered. Ian nodded and they kissed each other quickly on the lips before Wanda went to find something to clean up the choked up food. I followed her, as she walked down the thin room. She realized my action was deliberate. We turned a corner and she finally turned round to face me.

"What is it, hun?" She asked me with genuine concern.

"Well…it's about Jamie."

"What about him?"

"Everyone…seems to expect that…I'll have a romantic interest in him." She slowly nodded her head once. She thought that too. "But honestly. I don't!" My laugh was hysterical. "I mean, he's cute and all that but…I dunno. He's just not the one…at least I don't think so."

"Aww, honey!" Wanda's little arms wrapped around my waist. She only went up to my shoulder. "That's OK. I don't expect you to be like Mel and Jared."

"What happened with them?"

"They thought they were the last man and woman on earth, even though Mel's quite a bit younger than him. They forced themselves together, but they don't reget it. They are made for each other."

"So what about you?"

"Well, me and Ian fell in love. It could have been anyone really. OK I take that back. It probably wouldn't work with me and Kyle…" I grinned. I knew why. They'd told me THAT story. I felt sort of included, just knowing that one little widget of information. So strange. "So, you know. It doesn't need to be you and Jamie. There are other kids out there. You never know. Maybe we could pick a boy out for you? That you like? I mean, on the next raid."

"NO!" I shouted. Whoops. Bit too loud. Ian jogged round to us and we pretended to be searching for something.

"What's up?"

"I stubbed my toe…" I winced.

"Oh. You OK?"

"Yeah…" He left, shrugging. Bingo! Me and Wanda shared a glance. Wanda found a cloth and we headed back. Single Flame was eating the bread again, this time with some ham on top.

"Emergency rations won't last much longer." Ian explained to me, while Jamie talked animatedly to Single Flame. "Maybe a week at most. We normally grow our own vegetables, but we bring some back from the raids too. Seen as they've taken all the main food, we'll need to go raiding again. You up for it?"

"Yes sir!" I stood up straight and saluted him and we started laughing. But I had something bigger on my mind. Wanda finished up and walked over to us.

"I think we should go and wake up Mel and Jared. If they wake up in the middle of the night and start wondering where we are…well you'll know what they'll think happened." We all shuddered. After a little more discussion we decided to head back to our rooms. Single Flame was completely forgiven for the false alarm and we settled back down for as much sleep as we could get.

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" Taunted the boy. I was taller, and faster, but could only run in straight lines. The kids ran around in circles and when I thought I'd caught one of them, they would swerve out of my reach. 'it', they called the game. "You're it!" What was 'it'? What did it mean? It just was. Why did the souls pick earth? They just did.

I awoke in a cold sweat. I'd had worse nightmares. It was still dark out. My night was uneasy and I felt unwell. I knew something bad was going to happen. I always woke in a cold sweat exactly a week before. A week before mum lost her job, a week before the boys started taunting me, a week before dad didn't come home. Only those times, and the time I'd had a bad tummy bug had I ever woken up in a cold sweat. And tonight. I rolled over and over but could not get to sleep.

I needed to tell someone. Who? Wanda? No, she shares everything with Ian and I'd rather limit the amount of people who know. Mel's got Jared. I'd rather pass on Single Flame. That only left Jamie. I'd been trying to think about him as little as possible but hey, I needed to tell someone.

"Jamie! Psst!" He woke up immediately.

"What?"

"I can't sleep."

"Howcomes?" This sounded pathetic.

"Something bad's going to happen in a week."

"And…how'd you figure that one out?"

"I can't sleep."

"Oh."

"Look, don't think I'm crazy. It's just…I get this thing…a week before something bad's going to happen. I don't know whether it's just me, or luck, well bad luck if it's anything to do with luck, but always a week."

"OK well, we've got to try and stop it from happening right?"

"Uhuh."

"How we gonna do that? Do you know anything else?"

"Nope."

"Nothing?"

"100%."

"Well then, we gotta tell someone."

"No! Definitely not."

"Why?"

"They'll think I'm crazy."

"Oh for goodness sake I don't and besides, life's past crazy." He stormed into Mel and Jared's room and I followed, shuffling quickly.

"Ziggy says something bad's gonna happen in a week."

"Uhh, kid, lemme sleep…" Jared groaned.

"Jared! One week from now, and for all we know we could die."

"What?" His head shot up at the word 'die'.

"I…always wake up in a cold sweat when something bad's going to happen in a week. Don't ask why."

"Did you wake up in a cold sweat a week before we found you?" Mel asked. She might have been trying to change the subject.

"No."

"Look, this place is totally secure. Nothing's gonna get to you two." Jared growled. "At least, they have to get past me and Ian first."

"And me." Mel added.

"There's nothing to be scared of. Now get some rest."

"'Kay. Night."

"Night." Me and Jamie shuffled out of the room, defeated.

"Told you so." I grinned in the darkness.

"Shut up."


End file.
